"Executive branch agencies should consider all 'contact guidelines' regarding relations with Taiwan previously issued by the Department of State under authorities delegated to the Secretary of State to be null and void," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. The U.S. government had previously operated under a complex set of international restrictions barring high-level official contact and diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which has never been ruled by Beijing nor formed part of the People's Republic of China, but which has been locked out of international diplomacy and agencies at the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s insistence.
"Taiwan is a vibrant democracy and reliable partner of the United States," Pompeo said. "The United States government took these [previous] actions unilaterally, in an attempt to appease the Communist regime in Beijing. No more."
